Harold J. Haskins: True Servant to University Students, Groundbreaking Student Film Producer
Posted on 07. Jan, 2010 by Leshell Hatley in Scholarly Celebrations
Harold J. Haskins has been an administrator at the University of Pennsylvania for 29 years. From his starting post as Assistant Dean of Students, in 1973, to his current role as Director for Student Development Planning, his time and experience has been dedicated to designing and incorporating orientation, admissions, and student development activities for under-represented minorities. High school and university collaboration projects, corporate and university partnerships, pre-college preparation, and career development activities exemplify Mr. Haskins’ efforts through the years. Specifically, his efforts include a University-wide Tutoring Center, a pre-freshman program, summer internships — sponsored by corporations and university academic departments, the LEAD Program at the Wharton School, and the W.E.B. Du Bois Ph.D. Accelerator Program, a pilot summer project to introduce rising minority high school sophomores to research skills.
Mr. Haskins has been a long-standing advocate of collaborative learning among Penn’s diverse undergraduate and graduate student populations. He has extensive experience generating projects that engage students during their undergraduate years, thereby enabling student growth and leadership in the early stages of academic development.
Haskins has broadened the context of collaborative learning in concert with deans, department chairs, and faculty members. He has done this by including policy formulation and production of resources to implement and institutionalize student development programs in undergraduate schools and Wharton graduate programs at the university. He has tailored program supports for under-represented student populations, which included services to physically challenged, educationally and economically disadvantaged, and minority students. He founded The Tutoring Center, Support Services, Department of Academic Support Services, and various other developmental activities that are the foundation of current minority student services, career development, and retention activities at Penn.
Film Producer: “The Jungle”
In 1967, during his tenure as Associate Vice President for Community Development at Temple University Health Sciences Center, “Hask” produced a film entitled “The Jungle,” featuring teenage gang life in North Philadelphia. In 1968, The Jungle won a Documentary Film Award at the Festival de Popoli, Italy. The film was the catalyst for a number of teenage gang members to return to high school to earn their high school diplomas. Several members continued their education and earned college degrees at regional universities. As a result of the national recognition they received, the 12th and Oxford Street gang formed The Twelfth & Oxford Filmmakers Corporation to focus their energies on community development projects, and film production — thus establishing several businesses in their neighborhood. “The Jungle” was recently added to the 2009 National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
The Oxon Senior Honor Society
The Onyx Senior Honor Society was founded in 1974 by seven black university students: Claudette Christian, Craig Inge, Sharon Moorer, Linda Walker, Charles Wardlaw, Joseph Watkins and Robert Wilson. These pioneers, with the aid of administrators Provost Elliot, Dean of Students, Alice E. Emerson, and Associate Dean of Students, Harold Haskins, formed the honor society to encourage and provide incentive for high academic achievement and community service at the university. These collaborators sought to recognize and commend outstanding performance within, and outside of, the classroom. The organization has played and continues to play a significant role in promoting academic success and survival for minority students operating in an often competitive environment.
One of the goals of Onyx was to re-establish the Society for African-American Students at the University of Pennsylvania. The society provided an all expenses paid program for black students in the summer before their first year. The program lasted from 1969-72 and concentrated on preparing its participants for the academic mainstream by providing books, room and board, a stipend, and two credited courses. This program later birthed the Pre-Freshman Program. In response to such changes, the goals of Onyx have also changed and developed over time. In the past, Onyx has focused on forums as a means to inform the campus community about black issues. Some topics have included the organization and promotion of networking and support within the black community as well as the provision of mentoring for both the campus and surrounding Philadelphia communities. Onyx hopes to create a positive social experience for blacks at the university and to recognize black achievement past and present.
“The Harold Haskins Fund” has been established to commemorate Mr. Harold Haskins’ contributions to generations of Penn students and their families. The fund will be designated to support meaningful recognition honoring Harold and to fund student-related initiatives and programs.
Contribution checks should be made out to the “Harold Haskins Fund/Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania” and mailed to the following address:
The Harold Haskins Fund: Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
c/o The Office of the Vice Provost for University Life
3611 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6222
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